It’s November, and Christmas events are coming up!
As dancers we must prepare for those events ahead of time. So, in the next few weeks, I’ll do a Christmas series! I hope it’ll spark fun holiday dance ideas. 🙂
First of this series is DIY isis wings. This DIY was inspired by a video shared on Sparkly Belly’s Facebook group. This is a video of beautiful Jennifer from Orlando, Florida. You can check her out at BellyDanceByJennifer.com or her YouTube channel.
As you can see in the video below, the size of these wings are half of regular isis wings. This size is actually great for dancing in a small space where regular isis wings are too big or when you want a lighter texture. These wings have a flowy texture like veils, but you can create movements like wings. So I like to call them veil wings. 😉 And since they are smaller than regular wings, making them is not as hard or time consuming. Oh, and we’ll add lights to these wings later, so they’ll look so cool in the dark!
So in this video, you’ll see how to make these isis wings or veil wings.
Click here to be notified when the LED wings video is published!
If you want to join the free course mentioned in the video, click here 🙂
To make these DIY Isis wings / veil wings, you need:
Organza – isis wings are mostly made from organza or lame. Lame creates fluid movements, but I picked organza for this project, because organza is strong and flowy enough, and I want to attach lights to it afterwards. I got about 3m of organza.
Velcro – This is 2cm (3/4in) wide velcro. You only need 10cm or a few in of this.
Dowels – I have 2 1/4in thick dowels. You can get them at a craft store. Mine came 90cm (36in) long, and they are too long, so I will have to trim them down. If you need to trim down yours, then you’ll need something like a utility knife and sandpaper.
Matching colour thread
Basic sewing tools – measuring tape, scissors, sewing machine etc. Check out the Resources page for my favourite sewing tools.
DIY Isis Wings / Veil Wings
First, take 2 measurements.
- Measure from your neck to the floor. This will be the length of your wings.
- Measure the circumference of your neck.
Spread your fabric on the floor. Take your wing length, and measure it from a corner and make a ¼ circle. Make another one, and cut along the lines.
From the leftover fabric, cut a rectangle that is 10cm (4in) wide and your neck measurement plus 10cm (4in) long.
Now take the 2 ¼ circles to your sewing machine, and hem all the raw edges. I just folded the raw edges twice at 5mm (1/4in) and did a straight stitch.
This is optional, but I wanted the wing panels to be connected at the top, just like Jennifer’s wings, so I placed the wings right sides together, and sewed down 15cm or 6in from the corners.
Now hold the wings up against your back, make sure the centre seam is at the back of your neck and see how far you can reach with your hands. Mark where your wrist is, and measure the distance from here to the end of the panel.
Trim your dowels to this length. Mine is 66cm (26in), so I cut my dowels down to this length and sanded the rough ends.
Now we’ll make pockets to insert these dowels. At the top edge of the ¼ circle panel, place your dowel from the end of the panel. Fold over enough fabric to cover the dowel plus a seam allowance. This pocket should be pretty snug when you insert the dowel, so adjust the fold according to the size of your dowel. Take out the dowels and do a straight stitch to secure the fold and close the end. I left the other end open so I can insert and remove the dowel if I want to.
Do the same for the other wing panel. I pressed all the seams for a clean look.
And the wings are finished. 🙂
Now take the rectangle piece, fold in 1cm or 1/2in from short edges and press. Then fold it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Press. Now take one edge, fold it towards the line and press again. And repeat form the other edge.
Fold one of the long edges towards the centre like below (1), and fold again in half to determine the centre point. Mark it with a pin.
Now we will attach the wings to this neck piece. Place the centre seam of the wings right on top of the centre point on the neck piece you just marked with a pin. Overlap them about 1cm or 1/2in or so, and replace a pin to hold it. And place pins at 5cm or 2in from the centre point on both sides to hold everything together. And just do a simple straight stitch between the pins. (2)
Then, fold the other edge of the neck piece towards the centre and fold again, and top stitch all around it at about 2mm or 1/8in seam allowance. (3)
Try it on and see how much the neck piece overlaps. Cut your velcro into that length, and sew them onto the neck piece by stitching very close to the edges of the velcro pieces.
Insert dowels into the pockets, and you are finished!
They are so fun and pretty, and it really feels great to have beautiful wings to dance with. I skipped the pleating that you’d normally see on regular isis wings, because ironing that many pleats is very, very time consuming, and with the pleats, the wings will lose the veil-like texture. I really like the way these wings look, and they are unique for sure!
In next week’s post, I’ll show you how I added lights to the wings. I’m super excited to share it with you! If you don’t want to miss out, sign up for my newsletter from the link below 🙂
And if you liked this DIY project, please share with your troupe sisters and dancer friends.
And if you want to learn more than just making wings, sign up for my free course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101.
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling! 😀
Want to make more costuming bits yourself?
8 comments for “DIY Isis Wings (Veil Wings)”